Baking Amends
by SailorSun546
Summary: Post Game AU. The Skyloft council orders the now powerless Ghirahim to live with Batreaux, another ex-demon, for the safety of the human residents. To try and break the ice, Batreaux coerces Ghirahim into helping him prepare a cake for Zelda's upcoming birthday. Link steps in to help when it seems Ghirahim is too irritable and prideful to be of much use. Friendship/Bonding.


**Legend of Zelda, Skyward Sword universe, and characters are trademarks of Nintendo.**

* * *

_It had been several months since Link defeated Demise. Skyloft, and the Surface (newly dubbed Hyrule) had settled into a quiet era of peace. To the citizen's shock, and horror, Ghirahim had been found, lying broken and weak in the forest. Following the defeat of his master, the Demon Lord had been stripped of his powers, and cast out of the demon realm. At first, the Council of Skyloft wanted him executed, but Link had stepped forward. He found enough forgiveness in his heart to persuade the council to allow Ghirahim to live in Skyloft. After all, a sword with no master was of no threat to anyone._

_The council reluctantly granted Link this favor, and assigned the ex-demon, Batreaux, the task of looking after Ghirahim. They figured if he tried anything suspicious, another ex-demon would be able to stop him easily. The kindly man accepted his duty from the council, and did his best to keep Ghirahim in line. It wasn't easy. The stark white man was bitter and rebellious in the first few months, but having been stripped of his strength, the larger Batreaux was able to subdue him with little effort. He could remember particular incidents where the larger ex-demon and thrown him unceremoniously over his shoulder and carried him away, kicking and screaming. Though Ghirahim was still angry, his violent actions towards the townspeople had, for the most part, subsided. At long last, he had resigned himself to the bitter fate of living, as a mortal, in Hylia's realm. _

* * *

Ghirahim was prodded awake by a sallow, pointed finger. He flinched and rubbed his cheek, rolling over with a grumble. This time he was poked, more forcefully in the back. Unwillingly, he opened his eyes, and turned to see Batreaux looming over him. Ghirahim curled his white lips back in a snarl.

"What the Hell do you want, Batreaux?"

The burly, slightly green-colored man gave Ghirahim a goofy smile. "Tomorrow is the lovely Zelda's birthday, and we're going to bake her a cake!"

Ghirahim looked as if he had been told he was to be cast into the Eldin volcano. His horrified eyes narrowed coldly.

"What do you mean '_we_'?" he hissed.

Batreaux seized Ghirahim by the shoulder and hoisted him up and out of bed. "I mean you're going to help me. It will be fun! I've never baked a cake before, and we can have some ex-demonly bonding time, for once."

Though they lived in the same gloomy shack below Skyloft, Ghirahim made it a point to never spend more than five minutes with Batreaux in his own home. The thought of bonding with the jolly fellow was... well, he'd rather swallow live snakes.

"Unhand me, you lunatic!" He wrenched his shoulder out of Batreaux's grasp, and indignantly brushed himself off. Batreaux looked a little crestfallen.

"Oh don't be like that. I don't want to have to force you."

Ghirahim eyed Batreaux distrustfully. He knew by now resistance was futile, and though the thought of _baking a cake _for the _goddesses'_ _incarnation_ was disgusting, he had no choice. Batreaux would not leave him be unless he received Ghirahim's cooperation.

Reluctantly he sighed and flicked his white hair out of his eyes. "Fine."

Batreaux clapped his hands together, and led Ghirahim to the kitchen. An array of tools, bowls, and sacks of flour littered the wooden counters. Batreaux tied a white apron with a happy face on it around himself and tossed a dark blue one featuring the Skyloft crest to Ghirahim. The smaller male grimaced and cast the garment to the floor.

"No force in Heaven or Hell will make me wear that degrading thing."

"Oh, forgive me, I simply assumed you didn't want to ruin your lovely white clothes." Batreaux replied, slyly.

Ghirahim stiffened for a moment, and glanced at the bottles of food coloring on the counter. Of course, vanity was his only true weakness, and _of course_ Batreaux had figured that out. His blood boiled as he tied the blue apron around himself.

Meanwhile, Batreaux was carefully reading the directions on how to make a cake from the box-mix he'd bought from Bertie and Luv. He placed a tiny chefs hat between his red, horn-like tufts of hair and beckoned Ghirahim to come closer to the counter. Dumping the dry cake powder into a stone mixing bowl, he then handed three Cucco eggs to Ghirahim.

"Add those while I get a cup of water, would you?" He asked, shuffling toward the water barrel in the corner, with a measuring pitcher in hand.

The ex-demon lord examined the large white eggs and tossed them into the bowl.

Batreaux shook his head. "No no no, you have to _break_ them first."

Ghirahim's jaw clenched as he plucked the three eggs back out from the powdery mix. He held one over the bowl, and crushed it in his hand with a satisfying crunch. The yellow liquid oozed out from between his clenched fingers and dripped slowly into the mix, like chu-chu's from a cave ceiling. He opened his hand and shook the rest of the contents into the concoction, shattered shell and all.

Batreaux slapped one hand to his own forehead and groaned, "Noooo, like _this_." He set the pitcher of water down and took up one of the cucco eggs. Gently, he tapped the egg on the side of the bowl until a reasonably-sized crack split the egg. Then, he took either side of the egg between his thumb and forefinger, and gently separated the two halves, allowing the gloppy innards to plop into the cake mix.

"See?" He said triumphantly. "Like that. Now you try it." Batreaux handed the last egg to Ghirahim.

He glanced between the egg and the bowl. _Surely_ the old man couldn't be so stupid as to not realize he'd done that on purpose? He sighed, before expertly cracking and separating the egg with one hand. He then threw the sticky egg shells in Batreaux's face, stifling a cheer from him. Batreaux grumbled and wiped the egg off his face with one hand, scooting the mixing bowl towards himself with the other. Peering into the mixture he frowned at the tiny bits of egg shell lodged in the now gooey mound of cake mix.

"You don't think they'll mind if it's a little crunchy, do you?" He asked.

Ghirahim tossed his hair back with a flourish. "I say leave them in. Maybe the pretty little princess will choke on it."

Batreaux's eyes grew wide. "Oh no, that would be awful!" He hurriedly started picking out the bits of shell one by one and throwing them into a waste basket. "Well don't just stand there, come help me! We have to get every last one. I don't want to think about what the council would do to us if they thought we tried to sabotage miss Zelda's birthday!"

_Anything they do to me would be better than this..._ Thought Ghirahim, as he too began picking out the shells.

At long last, it seemed they had removed every piece of shell. Batreaux added the water and vegetable oil.

"Good! Now all we have to do is mix it up." Batreaux declared. Ghirahim casually strode over to the other end of the counter and plucked up a wooden spoon.

"Oh no, not with that," Batreaux gestured for his companion to put the spoon back.

He growled at the clumsy fool and retorted, "Then _what_ do you intend to use?"

Batreaux opened a drawer and pulled out a foreign looking machine. It appeared to be made of metal, and was endowed with Lanaryu style symbols and etchings. It also sported two whisk-like prongs."This," said Batreaux, mysteriously, " is an 'electric mixer.' It was a gift from Gondo and Scrapper."

The bat-like man pressed a button on top of the mixer, and the prongs began to spin rapidly. Humming tunelessly, Batreaux dipped the whirling prongs into the cake mix, and swirled it all around. Ghirahim leaned over his roommates shoulder to get a better look. The older man shut the machine off and offered it to Ghirahim.

"Would you like to try it?"

Ghirahim scoffed. "No."

Shrugging, Batreaux turned back to the bowl and continued mixing. "It's just as well. You'd probably mess it up anyway."

Ghirahim hissed and roughly took the mixer from Batreaux. "Don't you _dare_ insult me, I can do anything you can and twice as well!"

Batreaux stood back and watched as Ghirahim inspected the machine, trying to figure out how it worked.

"Push the button on the top."

"Shuttup!"

The machine started whirring and spinning much faster than before.

"You have to slide the gauge dow-"

"I don't need your help!"

Cake mix began flying across the room as Ghirahim started mixing violently, and swearing every time a glob of the mix struck him in the face.

"You will _obey _me, you insignificant muck, and I _command_ you to be mixed!"

Batreaux chuckled and gently placed a hand on the enraged ex-demon lord's shoulder.

"I think it's had enough punishment, friend." He reached over and turned the machine off. Ghirahim stood, panting and glaring viciously at the settling cake mix. Remarkably, there was still quite a lot left after he'd spilled so much.

"I'm not your friend." He snapped.

The older man paid no attention, and set out six smaller bowls. Ghirahim raised an eyebrow. "What now? I thought you're supposed to pour this gunk into a pan and bake it?"

"Weeelll,..." Batreaux replied, "I thought we'd do something special with this one. We're going to make a rainbow cake!"

Ghirahim froze in horror. "A... what?"

"A rainbow cake!" Batreaux clapped his hands together, excitedly. "It'll be fun!"

Ghirahim suppressed the urge to vomit. _Fun_ was slowly disemboweling a Remlit kitten. He took a step backward and wondered what his chances of outrunning the older ex-demon would be. Batreaux's face fell.

"I thought you would like this part. Link told me you love rainbows."

If possible, Ghirahim's face grew even paler. What kind of lies had that cursed Hero of the Goddess been spreading about him?

"_What else has he told you?_" he demanded.

"He just said that you mentioned something about filling your heart with rainbows during one of your battles."

"I was being _sarcastic_" He growled. "I _hate_ rainbows."

"Oh, and here I was hoping we had something in common..."

Ghirahim seized his own hair painfully, and uttered an exasperated growl. Breathing heavily, he took a few moments to calm himself. Sighing, he let his arms fall limply to his sides.

"What... do you need me to do..." He muttered.

Batreaux let out a relieved sigh. "Bring me those bottles of food coloring, please."

Reluctantly, Ghirahim brought the bottles to the kitchen table and sat down across from Batreaux. The older male slid the three bottles toward himself, and dipped a spoon into each one. He then handed the three spoons, and three bowls of cake mix to Ghirahim.

"Here. You can do the three primary colors, and I'll handle the secondary ones."

Ghirahim leered at the spoons covered in red, blue and yellow goo.

"Why can't _I_ make the purple?" He whined.

Batreaux puffed himself up proudly. "Because I have spent much of my time studying the delicate art of color mixing. Haven't you noticed the beautiful paintings adorning my walls? All of my finest works!"

Ghirahim's lower lip protruded slightly. He rested his cheek on one hand, swirling the spoon with blue food coloring in one of the bowls. He wouldn't dare admit it, but the paintings _were_ very nice. They were the only things in that gloomy little shake that made him feel less pissed off about the world.

"Don't worry my boy, I shall teach you all I know about creating beautiful works of art!" Batreaux boomed. Ghirahim bit his tongue, holding back a snappy remark.

Once the colors were mixed, they took turns pouring the colors, one by one into the cake pan. Batreaux spun the pan around to give the colors a swirling vortex appearance, and Ghirahim tapped the pan to get all the bubbles out. A little too forcefully, but it got the job done just the same.

Once the fires in the brick oven were hot enough, Batreaux gently placed the cake pan inside, and shut the door. "Now we wait about half an hour." He said, and began to wash his hands. "I'll take care of the dishes, so why don't you go take a walk around Skyloft for a bit?"

Ghirahim's eyes lit up. _Freedom!_ He stood and walked briskly towards the door.

"But," Batreaux called after him, "I expect you back in half an hour, and don't you dare make me come after you!"

The younger man's shoulders slumped and he groaned. Of course it wasn't over, but at least Batreaux had given him a breather.

He climbed up the ladder to the graveyard, and sat atop one of the headstones. It was a beautiful day. The sun shone bright in the sky, illuminating the clouds with a golden glow. A light breeze caressed his face and hair. It was disgusting. What he wouldn't give for some cold darkness, warmed by the glow of burning houses. He chose to gaze out into the sky, rather than look at the city behind him. The shapes of the clouds were far more interesting than the bustling of people on the street. He suddenly felt something warm and fluffy against his leg, and looked down to see a Remlit rubbing against his feet. The furry critter purred loudly and gazed up at him with big yellow eyes. Ghirahim grinned mischievously, and patted his leg, inviting the animal to sit in his lap. The Remlit happily obliged and hopped up, cuddling into him. He stroked its soft fur for a few minutes, waiting for it to fall asleep. When the purring gave way to soft snores, he slipped one hand under its belly, raised the sleeping animal over his head and launched it over the side of the floating island. The animal awoke and began screaming as it fell towards the cloud barrier below. Ghirahim chuckled, and leaned back to enjoy the fading sound of the animal's shriek.

"That was classy of you."

Ghirahim jumped and whipped his head around. The green-clad Hero of the Goddess strode towards him, arms crossed, and an amused smile playing across his face. The white ex-demon stood and turned to face his old adversary.

"Well, look who it is." He drawled as the boy stopped in front of him. "I hear you've been spreading lies about me."

Link shrugged. "I just share stories about my adventures on the Surface. It's not my fault if the drunks repeat them all blown out of proportion."

"Tch." Ghirahim turned away from Link to leered at the expanse of sky.

Link strode over to the edge and peered down where the Remlit had fallen.

"Looking for you lost kitten, Sky Child?" Ghirahim taunted. "It's long gone by now."

Link smiled and patted his leg, still gazing down. The soft sound of flapping reached Ghirahim's ears, and his jaw dropped, as the little Remlit reappeared. It was flapping its huge brown ears and panting as it flew toward Link. The cat-like animal draped itself around Link's shoulders and continued to purr as Link scratched its chin.

"I used to toss these little guys off the edge when I was a child. Pipit, Fledge and I would make a game of it, until Zelda found out..." He fondly recalled.

Ghirahim raised an eyebrow. "The pure and kind-hearted Hero of the Goddess abusing small animals?"

"It's not like they got hurt." He replied, defensively, as the Remlit took its leave. "Anyway, I hear you and Batreaux have something special planned for today. Care to share?"

Ghirahim glared, turning away. "It's... a secret."

On the one hand it might have been fun to spoil the surprise. On the other, it would be confessing his humiliation, and the proud ex-demon couldn't have that.

"Is the smell of cake batter and the apron part of the secret too?" Link asked, slyly.

Ghirahim stiffened and looked down to examine his own torso. To his horror, he was still wearing the blue apron, slathered in cake batter. His pale face turned bright red, and he whipped around, covering himself as if he'd been caught naked.

Link doubled over with laughter.

"Shuttup you fool!" Ghirahim shouted, indignantly.

Link straitened up, trying his hardest to stifle another fit of giggles. "Okay okay, I won't tell if you won't." He took a deep breath, but couldn't shake the smile.

Ghirahim sat down behind the headstone, and sulked. No one could see him behind the stone now, but it didn't really matter. All of Skyloft could have been laughing at him right now, but only Link had seen, and that was worst of all. His worst enemy; the foolish young boy who thwarted all his plans, beaten him in every battle, and now was cruel enough to spare his life. Ghirahim had never been so thoroughly embarrassed and insulted that he felt sad. Angry, yes, but never sad. Not until now. He supposed it was due to his now mortal status. As if to pour salt on the wound, Link sat down next to Ghirahim and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh don't be like that. Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Ghirahim jerked his shoulder away. "I don't have feelings."

"Yes you do."

"I _don't_! And I don't want pity, or kindness from _you_!"

Link sighed and leaned back against the headstone. "Of course you don't. Especially not from me..."

"Why are you being so nice to me, Hero?" Ghirahim snarled. "Why didn't you let the council execute me? To mock me? To watch me suffer in your mortal world?"

Link lowered his head. "No. I thought... I thought if I showed you mercy, maybe you'd have a change of heart."

Ghirahim scoffed. "Of course you would think that." He stood and headed back to the ladder.

"Ghirahim," Link called after him, "I think you wouldn't hate it here so much if you at least tried to make friends."

The ex-demon paused at the door frame leading to the ladder, and looked over his shoulder at the green-clad hero. "And who," he replied, "would accept me if I did try?"

"Batreaux would. He talks about you all the time."

"That old fool?"

"Don't insult him Ghirahim." Link scolded. "He defends you all the time. When all the drunks and gossips talk about you behind you back, he steps in and insists on what great company you are."

Ghirahim was taken aback. Batreaux was, more or less, his guardian but he never imagined that the old fool gave him a second thought when the two of them were apart. He lowered his head, to stare angrily at his feet. "What reason could he possibly have to defend me? Isn't he well acquainted with everyone in town?"

"He's popular with the locals, yes, but of all the people in Skyloft, you're the only one he can relate to. You're the only one he can talk about the 'good ol' days' of being a demon with. I can't count the number of times he's let slip a story of his demon days, and the odd stares he gets from people when he refers to dark magic."

Ghirahim crossed his arms, staring down the dark pit the ladder lead into. He was feeling something he had never experienced before,... shame? No, he'd felt that on countless occasion when he had failed his previous master, Demise. This,... this was remorse. In all this time he'd never once spoken to Batreaux about the days when he was a demon, assuming the jolly man preferred not to remember it. It didn't occur to him that it created social complications, and for the first time, Ghirahim felt regret and pity. He shook his head, and the anger returned. _How bothersome these human emotions are! _

Link came to stand next to the ex-demon, who glared at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Just give the guy a chance. I promise friendship isn't as horrible as it sounds." Link gave Ghirahim a tap on the shoulder with his fist and turned to walk away.

"Link."

The boy stopped half way across the small graveyard and turned back to his old enemy. The ex-demon beckoned him over with a white-gloved hand, and descended the ladder. Link smiled lightly, and followed.

Ghirahim was at war with himself. Part of him wanted so much to push Link over the edge of Skyloft, but the other part was inclined to accept his companionship. He wouldn't admit it, even to himself, but there were brief moments he had enjoyed in the hero's company. And Batreaux's for that matter. Now here he was, inviting the one person he told himself he hated most in the world to spend time with himself and the second person he hated most in the world. No, scratch that. _Zelda_ was the person he hated second most. Maybe first most. He growled, and thrust the door to Batreaux's shack open with enough force to shake the whole house.

"I'm back." He said curtly.

"Oh?" came Batreaux's voice from the kitchen. "You're early."

Ghirahim entered the kitchen and sat down at the table. "You said half an hour."

"Yes, but I didn't expect you to actually listen. I was really going to give you a whole hour. Maybe two, since the cake needs to freeze first." Batreaux placed the last of the clean dishes back in their cupboard.

Ghirahim raised an eyebrow.

"Oh! Good afternoon, Link!" the burly man beamed, just noticing the boy standing in the doorway.

"Hello, Batreaux." He replied warmly. The two gave each other a man-hug, and Link took a seat next to Ghirahim, while Batreaux sat across from them.

Ghirahim cleared his throat. "What do you mean freeze? It's not winter yet, you couldn't possibly have ice."

Batreaux clapped his hands together, and went to the corner of the room. He hoisted up a large, ornately decorated chest off the ground and set it on the table.

"This," he explained, opening the chest, "is an ice box. I won it from an ice demon about 500 years ago. The ice inside is charmed to never ever melt. I used to use it to store the bodies of my victims, but now it's just for storing food." He chuckled, before shooting an apologetic look at Link. The boy grinned awkwardly.

Ghirahim's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. _I'll be damned, the Sky Child was right. _He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.

"This ice demon,... he didn't happen to be Gelniege, did he?"

Batreaux stared at Ghirahim in surprise. "Yes! You knew him?"

"I lost a few bets to the bastard, yeah." he said, nonchalantly inspecting his nails.

Batreaux closed the ice box and set it on the floor. "Well then, you probably remember that old card game. Would you... care to play?"

A genuine grin split Ghirahim's face. "Oh why the Hell not?"

Delighted, the older ex-demon went to a shelf and pulled down small a box decorated in skulls and spider webs, and placed it on the table.

"You know, I haven't played this game in nearly 100 years." he said, excitedly.

"It shows." Ghirahim replied, brushing dust off the table. "Better explain the rules to this one." he jerked a thumb at Link, who was curiously inspecting the cards.

The cards were elegantly decorated with gruesome drawings and symbols. Most appeared to be monsters or ghosts, but others looked like severed body parts and organs.

Batreaux began to explain how to play.

The rules were far from simple, as some of the cards actually changed the rules of the game. On top of that, some of the cards were enchanted to give the holder a shock or a burn when another player "cursed" them. A cruel smile played on Ghirahim's lips every time Link yelped from a curse.

"I do love watching you squirm, Sky Child." He teased, as he laid down another Curse card in front of Link. The boy flinched.

"You're doing this on purpose," he pouted.

Ghirahim flipped his white hair back. "Of course. I take pleasure in causing you pain, and this is a perfectly legal way to do it."

"They are fair moves," Batreaux added.

Link frowned, as he drew another card, and placed it in front of Batreaux. "Here, this one will lift your curse, right?"

Batreaux nodded, as a little gold light burst from the card and incinerated one of the curse cards in front of Batreaux. "That was kind of you, Link."

The boy shrugged. The game was very cut-throat, but his kind nature didn't allow him to play dirty. The two ex-demons on the other hand, were having a blast.

Ghirahim chuckled. "That kindness won't get you anywhere in this game, Sky Child."

"Au contraire," Batreaux replied, laying down a particularly powerful curse card in front of Ghirahim. The white ex-demon yelped loudly as the curse card took affect. Batreaux winked at Link. "That one means he loses a turn. Go ahead and draw another card."

"Don't baby him!" Ghirahim cried, indignantly.

"You're just mad because you're losing." Link taunted, as Batreaux laughed.

The three went on, playing game after game, until the cake was finally frozen. Batreaux had made tea, and Link sipped it gingery, trying not to move his arms too much. Certainly, he'd had a lot of fun, playing their dark card game, but admittedly, he was glad it was over. Bruises and light cuts decorated the three men's arms. Batreaux passed Link and Ghirahim a bottle of healing potion.

"I'm sorry he was so rough on you, being a first time player." He said apologetically.

"I'm not." Ghirahim smirked as he downed the potion.

Link rolled his eyes, and drank his potion, welcoming the warmth the spread through his body. His injuries tingled for a few moments and then faded. Good as new.

"So, what's the plan now?" Link asked, as Batreaux set the frozen rainbow cake on a small, spinning plate on the table.

"Now it's time to decorate."

Ghirahim slumped back in his chair and let out an annoyingly loud whine. "Wwwhhhhyyy can't we just give it to her like this? It's pretty enough, she'll love it."

"Ghirahim, we can't have a cake with no frosting! Come on now, we're almost done." Batreaux scolded, as he stuffed a decorating bag with frosting. "Look, I even made up all the icing while you were out."

Link took up one of the flat spatulas. "Can I help? Zelda taught me how to frost a cake once."

Batreaux nodded, and pushed the cake towards Link. "Of course you can. See, Ghirahim, why can't you be this helpful?"

"That would involve making others happy."

While the two ex-demons bickered, Link delicately spread white frosting all over the cake, smoothing it out just as Zelda had shown him. It was a little sloppy compared to what she could do, but at least the cake was covered. He set the spatula down and tapped Batreaux's should to get his attention. "I'm finished."

The two ex-demons, seconds away from a fist fight, looked up and admired Links work.

"Goodness Link, this is lovely!" Batreaux praised. Link blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"What kind of design were you thinking?" the Hero asked.

"Well,... I was hoping to try putting flowers on it but I don't actually know how to do that..." Batreaux admitted.

Link smiled. "Zelda taught me how to do that too. Here, I'll show you." He picked up a few of the tools, and switched out the tip on the decorating bag to a piece with a single narrow slit. Holding it at an angle, he twirled the flower nail in his hand, making small dips and waves that gave the impression of flower petals. He placed the pink rose on the table and handed the bag to Batreaux. He took up the bag and the flower nail, carefully inspecting Link's work.

"Link this is amazing! Okay, let's see if I can,..."

Holding the bag just as Link had instructed, he repeated the hero's motions. His flower was significantly more wobbly than Links but it was a good first try. Ghirahim covered his mouth, stifling a laugh.

"What are you giggling at?" Batreaux snapped.

"I'm sure the sky maiden will be very happy with a chuchu covered cake."

"Okay," Batreaux huffed, "let's see _you_ do it better."

"Oh I am _not_ making pansies for the little birthday brat."

"Coward."

"_Excuse me?_"

"You heard me."

Ghirahim seized the bag of frosting and the flower nail, sliding Batreaux's flower onto the table. Link stood next to him and tried to give some direction, which was quickly disregarded.

"I'll show you how to make a blasted flower you old kook." He squeezed the bag too roughly and an enormous blob of pink frosting burst out.

"What was that about chuchus, Ghirahim?" Batreaux chided.

"You shut your-"

"You know!" Link cut in, "Maybe I should take it from here?"

Ghirahim held the frosting bag away from Link, out of the shorter boy's reach.

"_No, _I'm going to do it right this time."

Link backed away. "Okay..."

While Ghirahim fought with the bag, Batreaux prepared two others, and luckily had two spare flower nails. He handed one of each to Link, and they sat down to work on their own.

After a while they stopped to count the flowers. There were more than enough, though they varied in quality. Ghirahim's in particular were very sloppy. They took turns placing icing flowers on the cake to make a ring around the edge, and placed the last three in the center.

"Done!" Batreaux exclaimed. He carefully placed the finished product into the ice box.

"_Finally_." Ghirahim rolled off his chair and strutted out the door before anyone could stop him. At this point, neither Batreaux nor Link really wanted to.

Link stood to take his leave as well. "I should get going. I was actually on my way to pick up Zelda's gift before I came over."

"Of course, of course," Batreaux replied, walking Link to the door. "Thank you for stopping by, you've been a tremendous help."

"Anytime! See you two tomorrow."

* * *

"Can I open my eyes yet?" Zelda asked.

"No, not yet." Link replied. "You don't want to spoil the surprise do you?"

He lead her by the hand all the way to a little space in one of Skyloft's fields where all her friends had set up the party.

"Okay..." Link positioned her and let go of her hand. "You can open you eyes now."

Zelda gasped, taking in the scene her friends had put together. Two posts decorated in vibrant streamers displayed a banner that read "Happy Birthday Zelda!" Beneath the banner was a table adorned with all manner of food and presents.

"Surprise!" her friends shouted.

"Oh you guys! You didn't have to go through all this trouble."

"Of course we did!" Groose gave her a big bear-hug. "The streamers were my idea!"

Zelda giggled. "They're beautiful, thank you."

"C'mon, let me show you all the party games we set up! Those were my idea too."

"I helped." Link pouted.

The air was filled with laughter and cheers from the young Skyloftians. Ghirahim simply leaned against one of the posts, looking bored. Link decided to take a break from playing tag and approached him.

"Hey, remember what I said about trying to make friends?"

Ghirahim grunted.

"Oh come on, just one party game?"

"I'm quite content where I stand, Sky Child."

"Alright..." Link sighed, and returned to the festivities.

After a while the group decided it was cake time and all crowded around the table. Link leaned over and whispered in Zelda's ear, "Wait until you see the cake Batreaux and Ghirahim made you, it's amazing!"

"Ghirahim?"

"Yeah. Who knew?"

Batreaux presented the cake, and everyone sang "Happy Birthday." Even Ghirahim, with some forceful coercing from Batreaux. Zelda took a knife, carefully cutting into the cake and placing it on a smaller plate. Everyone gasped at the beautiful marbled colors.

"Oh gosh you guys, this is beautiful! Thank you!" Zelda stood and gave Batreaux and Ghirahim a hug. Ghirahim stiffened, frowning. She took his hand and tugged.

"Come on, come sit with us."

"I don't-"

"I'm not taking no for an answer."

Ghirahim grimaced and took a seat between Batreaux and Link, while Zelda continued cutting and passing out slices of cake. He wasn't sure he liked the attention he was getting, but most of the compliments seemed to be directed towards Batreaux and the birthday-girl, so he was able to eat his cake in relative peace. He remained at the table while the others dashed off to go smash some pumpkins and beat up a piñata. Once again, Link lingered behind to pester him.

"Hey you and Batreaux did a great job."

"Mm-hm."

"So, you feel any different about making friends yet?"

"Not particularly."

Link sighed heavily and clapped Ghirahim on the back. "Alright." He stood and rejoined the others.

Zelda turned back towards the table and beckoned to the cranky ex-demon. "Hey, Ghirahim!" she called, "Come join us!"

He pretended not to hear.

"Come on Ghirahim, you can't make a cake that good and skip out on all the fun, now get over here!"

Rolling his head back exasperatedly, he caved in and joined the Academy students. It looked like they were setting up a game that involved throwing things at each other. Zelda nudged him with her elbow.

"Hey, how about you and I gang up on Link?" She whispered. Ghirahim responded with a sly grin and a nod.

_'Perhaps this won't be quite so terrible.' _


End file.
